Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SCHOOL FOR GIFTED YOUNGSTERS — May has been a busy month for big movie releases with films like “Godzilla” and “The Amazing Spider-Man 2.” The highly anticipated “X-Men: Days of Future Past” is now added to that list, but the big question is, "Should you see it?"
Absolutely.
Here are three reasons this “X-Men” movie is the best in the franchise and is also the best big-blockbuster movie thus far in 2014.
That's right “Captain America” fans, I just said that.
The Story
When “X-Men: Days of Future Past” went into production, there was talk that director Bryan Singer was going to combine a number of X-men from all four movies, a tough task. It sounded like it was going to be a mess with too much going on, but that was not the case. Singer pulled it off brilliantly.
A concern before seeing the movie was that most X-Men movies, outside of “First Class,” seem to be based around Wolverine. Wolverine is the X-Men that everyone wants to see, but the character has been overkill as of late.
"Days of Future Past" did a great job of making Wolverine an integral character, but not the focus of the film.
Another concern before going in was the time travel issue. Most time-travel movies have huge plot holes that can distract you from the overall story. While over time those holes may become more prevalent they're almost non-existent as you watch the movie. Almost.
The Cast
Virtually every actor gives a stellar performance in "Days of Future Past," most notably James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender. Can you imagine anyone else playing a young Charles Xavier and Magneto better than these two?
As good as McAvoy and Fassbender are, however, the rest of the cast still holds their own and some even manage to stand out on occasion.
One performance in particular you will fall in love with in the film is Evan Peters as Quicksilver.
Peters is a scene-stealer and undoubtedly has the best scene of the movie. It will be hard for Aaron Taylor-Johnson to top Peters performance as Quicksilver when he steps into the role for “Avengers: Age of Ultron.”
The Director
When it was announced Bryan Singer was tapped to direct "Days of Future Past" instead of Matthew Vaughn, who helmed "First Class," I was a little disappointed.
Singer’s last few movies have not been up to par with his earlier films like “X-Men” and “X-Men 2,” but "Days of Future Past" is a return to form.
Overall, the movie was visually stunning and with an estimated budget of $250 million you would hope so, right?
In a movie with so much going on, Singer nailed the pacing. Like a lot of big-blockbuster movies, it doesn’t lag in the middle just to set up a grand finale. The film is engaging and fun from start to finish.
Welcome back, Bryan Singer. We missed you.
“X-Men: Days of Future Past” lives up to all the hype and is well worth the price of admission. It will be a tough act to follow for all the other big blockbuster movies coming out this summer. Curtis Linnell is a communications graduate from Brigham Young University and writes for ok.com
